Day 5

Step 12

Start by taking your line of petals. They should still be attached to your spool of wire (I didn’t tell you to cut them off yet!).

So, first step, is to cut them off, but before you do… read this!

Whenever you cut wire from the spool and you have beads left on the spool, you need to take care. As you cut, make sure you hold onto the spool wire. It’s fine for your finished flower to fall on the floor. But when you cut the wire, it usually starts to try and unravel from the spool. So, if you’re not holding it, you will watch as your wire flies back, unravelling itself and sending beads scattering all around your room. Whilst this is quite an exhibition, it’s not ideal since it will leave you spending the rest of today’s beading time scrabbling on the floor hunting for tiny seed beads!

So, hold onto the spool wire as you snip and then immediately ‘knot’ the end of your wire. Then your unused beads will be secure and you can turn your attention back to the flower.

Step 13

Now, you want to make your line of petals into a circle. So, simply pull them round until the two ends of wire meet.

Now, to secure this, take one end of wire. Place it over the top of the wire wrap at the base of the next petal (eg wire from beside petal 5 will go over the top of wire at base of petal 1).

Then take the same wire under the base of the next petal and over the base of the following petal.

…I’m borrowing a photo from the strawberry leaf here to show you how a line of loops can be formed into a circle. So look carefully at the area of wire at the base of each petal…

Your two ends of wire should now be at opposite sides of your circle of petals.

Pull the wires downwards, so they sit underneath your petal section.

Step 14

Take your centre and thread the wires through the middle of your circle of petals.

Now, twist all the petal and centre wires together a couple of times. Just twist enough to hold everything in place. You don’t need to twist all the way down the stem.

Step 15

Sit back and admire your handiwork.

You’ve made your first ever French beaded flower and you should be very proud of yourself!

Tomorrow, we are going to finish off the stems.

For now, I can offer you a little optional extra work if you want…

When I made these flowers for my strawberry plant, I added a green leafy calyx to the back of each. If you want to do the same, you can. Just pop back up to day 2 (the link will open in a new tab) and find the instructions for the Strawberry.

Follow the instructions for making the strawberry leaf. Then use this as the Calyx for your little flower.

Now, I didn’t include the green beads and green wire in the flower kits or the materials list. So, if you do want to do this, you will need to get these supplies separately. If you don’t have them to hand, then leave this for now. But you can make more flowers and add the calyx in future.

Day 5

It’s time to finish off the beading and assemble the strawberry today. So, I said this is going to be a nice easy day.

It’s all about shaping and artistry. So, you can take time to pull everything into place and create your ideal strawberry now!

Step 13

Before you finish off, ease everything into place. So, make sure there is no gapping down your spoke wires.

The final two rows should be eased inwards and downwards to create the flat top of the strawberry.

When you are happy that everything is in place, carefully bring all your spoke wires and the working wire to the centre of the top. Twist all the wires together a couple of times.

Then cut your working wire from the spool. Trim the knot off the spoke and smooth all the wires upwards.

Step 14

Take the leaves you made on day 2 and thread the strawberry wires through the hole in the centre of the leaves.

Twist the leaf wires and strawberry wires together to finish everything off. Set this to one side.

Tomorrow you are going to finish off the stems.

If you still need more of a beading fix today, then you can try another strawberry. You should find this is a little quicker and easier to make now you know what you’re doing!

Day 5

Well, you’re going to complete your bracelet today. I hope by now, it’s taking shape with a pretty spiral. You should be feeling very proud of your achievements so far.

Although there isn’t much to do, I find that finishing off takes a bit of time. It is your chance to check that everything is in order.

Step 13

Start by measuring the bracelet around your wrist. This is vital, to check that you did your calculations correctly. Although, I always like to keep measuring at various stages as I go. This just helps me to see whether I am roughly on track.

Don’t forget to allow space for your clasp. The second half of the clasp is going to be joined in the same way as the first half. So, you have a few beads between the end of the spiral and the clasp itself. You should take this into account when you measure.

Step 14

Assuming you’re happy with the length, it is time to add the second half of your clasp. So, pick up 3(A), pass through the hole in the other half of your clasp, then pick up 3(B).

Pass down through the final 3(B) in your spiral, then up through the final 4(A) in the core.

This has attached the clasp, but you should always reinforce it. So, pass through your new clasp beads and then repeat the thread path through the 3(B) and 4(A) from the spiral at least twice more.

Step 15

When you are happy that the clasp is secure, weave back down into your core beads and finish your thread. You should knot between beads a couple of times to secure the thread.

Make sure you remember to then pass through some beads after the knot. If you just cut the thread next to the knot, it is very likely that the knot will work itself undone over time and your bracelet can then break.

Step 16

The last little thing is to deal with the tail thread from the very beginning of your project. For this bracelet, you just need to stitch the thread in. Because you started by knotting your working and tail threads together, you have ‘secured’ the tail already.

If you are working on a project where your working and tail threads are not knotted, then you should stitch the tail thread in and knot between beads as you go.

A note on sizing and design

If any of you paused at step 13 because you weren’t sure about your sizing, then this may help!

I think it is actually quite tricky to get a bracelet sized right. The way in which the beads sit in different stitches, or the size of the beads, can make a difference to size. So, just because a beaded rope measures 7″ long (say), it doesn’t always mean that it will fit your 7″ wrist.

This being the case, it is entirely possible that all your calculations went a little awry. Ideally, the central embellishment should sit in the centre of the bracelet. So, you have an equal length of basic spiral on each side of it. However, this may not fit well.

So, you have two options. Firstly, you can adjust the second section of spiral to create a good fit.

Secondly, you can alter the number of beads you pick up when you attach the clasp. This is often a good tip for altering the length of a design.

The results may not be ‘perfect’, but you will find that the bracelet still sits right.

So, tomorrow, I want you to bring along all your beads and we’re going to have a bit of ‘play-time’ taking your spiral stitch to the next level…

Day 5

Well, now it gets exciting…a new variation of Peyote stitch. The leaves are created using even count Peyote… But with a twist… The shaping comes from a cunning little increase in every row. So, take care and keep following the instructions carefully!

Step 15

Continue to weave through the last row until you reach the spot that is two spaces away from the point between two petals (ie, the point where you added a pair of beads in step 12).

You are now going to make a leaf.

Add 1(D) in each of the first two spaces. You should now be at the point where your petals join.

Add 2(D) in this space.

Add 1(D) in the next two spaces.

This completes the first row of your leaf – this row has 6(D).

Step 16

You will be working in even count Peyote from this point on.

So, work back along the row, adding 1(D) in each of the first 3 spaces.

You should now be exiting from the first bead in your pair of (D). Pick up 2(D) and pass through the second bead in the pair.

Add 1(D) in each of the remaining spaces in the row.

This row contains 7(D).

Step 17

Repeat the technique in step 16 for another 7 rows.

This means working back and forth in even count Peyote, but every time you reach the pair of beads from your previous row, you will add a new pair of beads in between them.

This gives the leaf its shape.

The number of beads in each row should increase by one every time. Your last row should contain 14 beads.

The photo shows the end of the third row.

Step 18

Add one final row – this will contain 14(D) beads because this time, when you reach the pair, you are going to add 1(D) between the two beads instead of a new pair.

This completes your first leaf, so well done!

That’s all for today! So, if you’ve got any questions, just leave a comment and I will help out. See you again tomorrow…